Notes for Another Life by Sue Ellen Bridgers
"Notes for Another Life" by Sue Ellen Bridgers is a poignant exploration of a contemporary family grappling with the complexities brought on by mental illness. The story centers around Tom Jackson, whose struggles lead to significant upheaval in the lives of his family members, including his children, Wren and Kevin, and his wife, Karen. As the siblings navigate the challenges of their new reality—living with their grandparents and facing their mother's decision to divorce—Bridgers delves into themes of familial fragmentation, support, and the quest for identity. Music plays a vital role in the narrative, serving as a source of comfort and connection for Wren, an aspiring pianist, and Kevin, a talented tennis player.
The novel paints a rich picture of the intergenerational bonds within a rural North Carolina setting, where the strengths and challenges of traditional family structures are examined. Bridgers’ use of multiple perspectives allows for a nuanced understanding of each character's struggles, particularly emphasizing the experiences of her strong female protagonists. As the narrative unfolds, readers witness the characters’ resilience in the face of adversity and the importance of support systems, both familial and social. "Notes for Another Life" is not only a reflection on the pain of changing family dynamics but also an affirmation of hope and the possibility of healing amidst chaos.
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Subject Terms
Notes for Another Life by Sue Ellen Bridgers
First published: 1981
Type of work: Domestic realism
Themes: Family, coming-of-age, emotions, and health and illness
Time of work: The late twentieth century
Recommended Ages: 13-15
Locale: A small town in the United States
Principal Characters:
Wren Jackson , an insightful, compassionate thirteen-year-old who is beginning to define her own goalsKevin Jackson , her athletic, moody sixteen-year-old brotherBliss Jackson , their inspiring and devoted grandmother, who takes on the responsibility of rearing themTom Jackson , their father, who is mentally illKaren Jackson , their beautiful and confident mother, who has moved on to pursue a successful career in another city
The Story
In Notes for Another Life Sue Ellen Bridgers examines the pain and challenges faced by a changing contemporary family. She guides the reader through the perspectives of most of the main characters as they deal with Tom Jackson’s mental illness. His inability to cope has resulted in his children’s moving in with his parents, while his wife moves to another city to begin her own career. Everyone hopes and dreams for the reunification of the family, yet circumstances seem to forestall that prospect.
The central perspectives are provided by Wren and Kevin, who are supportive of each other and create a bond of unity despite the fragmentation of their family. Kevin “had always known they had to stay together, two fragments of a passion that neither of them could remember or understand. A lost love.”
The story opens with Wren and her grandmother, Bliss, making their weekly pilgrimage to the hospital where Tom finds asylum from the pressures of life. Wren and Bliss sing along the way. Wren “understood the music, seeing in her head the notes her grandmother had taught her, but she also knew what the singing was for. She felt it pull them together, bringing comfort and courage against the panic that accompanied every visit to her father.”
Music is an important element in the novel, for it often provides hope and continuity for Wren and Kevin. Wren is a pianist and takes her music so seriously that she envisions it as her career someday. Her natural talent is augmented by her dedication to hard work, practice, and competition. Kevin finds his outlet as the best tennis player in his school. He is fiercely competitive and is driven by his compulsion to play to win. Bliss seems to be the source of all these talents. In her day she was an accomplished pianist as well as a competitive tennis player. She is a strong role model for both adolescents.
The comfort and strength of the grandparents provide the only source of security Kevin and Wren can count on, yet the teenagers often feel a great burden to be perfect children lest this home too should shatter. The momentum builds as new relationships are explored and formed through dating. The siblings’ needs and desires are often conflicting because of their fear to love, to trust, to hold on. Their relationship with their mother has a profound impact on these romances and also on their sense of love and trust.
The action begins to escalate when Karen notifies Bliss that she has decided to divorce Tom. The teenagers are upset at the finality of this step, and Kevin tries to persuade his mother to let him come and live with her, because he senses that he is losing her. Tom comes home from the hospital for a while and seems to be functioning fairly well even though the divorce is finalized. Kevin feels rebuffed by his mother and rejected by his girlfriend; he is also depressed over a broken wrist that will cost him a tennis season. In his loneliness, he tries to kill himself.
Eventually, Tom returns to the hospital, and Kevin begins to try to pull himself together with the assistance of the Baptist minister. For her part, Wren begins to understand herself and her life goals more clearly in the light of her mother’s struggle to balance career and family.
Context
Notes for Another Life is Sue Ellen Bridgers’ third published novel. Her first novel, Home Before Dark (1976), is more widely known and was an American Library Association Notable Book of the Year. Both novels explore themes of changing families and relationships within a homey, rural North Carolina setting. Notes for Another Life examines the complexities of relationships and communicates a sense of survival and hope, supported by traditional family structures and religious values. Bridgers is able to examine the contemporary permutations of family structures and still find value within the traditional system of nuclear and extended family. She explores the perils, pain, and possibilities of these alternative family styles through strong female characters such as Wren, Bliss, and Karen. While the male characters are less “successful” in this novel, their pain in the familial transitions is understandable and reasonable for the reader.
Bridgers uses shifting viewpoints to develop each character. Some critics have suggested that this technique may not work well for young readers, yet Bridgers has used it in several novels and generally receives positive reviews that laud her characterizations, particularly of her female protagonists.
The social context for Notes for Another Life is the unprecedented number of single-parent families in late twentieth century American society. Because of the stresses of family reorganization, this type of novel has a ready audience: children who are experiencing deep pain and questioning their own lovability. Bridgers’ successful characters are fairly androgynous, and her struggling characters are exploring the rigidity of the gender roles on which they have patterned their lives. In this area, too, she challenges readers to take risks and to have the courage to make needed changes in their own lives.